If there are a couple of things which annoy me very intensely in the year 6 A.O. (Anno Obama) – besides petty rudeness and vandalism which are loudly proclaimed to be anti-LBGTYWTF, racist or anti-Islam and then later (often within days or hours) admitted to have been perpetrated by the so-called victim in hopes of tapping into that sweet, sweet overflowing spring of sympathy and righteous affirmation … really, my default position after reading the breathless headlines about one of these incidents is setting a mental over-under of how many days it will take for the ostensible victim to be proven comprehensively to be an attention-seeking drama queen.
Oh, and the other couple of things which annoy me intensely – two phrases, apparently beloved of activists who want to be seen as involved and deeply concerned activists without doing anything in particular about their chosen cause: the first is “raising awareness of (fill in the blank)” and “starting a conversation about (fill in the blank).” If there are any more trite and hackneyed justifications for doing something demonstrably thoughtless and annoying, I’d like to know about them so I can be warned and take evasive action. Yes; “Think of the children” and “If it saves just one life” are already on my event horizon of trite and hackneyed justifications for being a prize self-glorifying and ultimately expensive pain in the *ss.
All these phrases are basically cheap grace, a flamboyant gesture and a signaling flag. They are a way of seeming to do something without actually doing something; permitting the “deeply concerned activist” to preen before their peers without actually breaking a sweat. Because – and this is the supremely annoying part – in the main, we are already aware of most of the major problems afflicting us. The extreme smugness of assuming that we are not has become as annoying as it is arrogant and condescending. Homelessness in our inner cities? Starvation in Africa? There’s strife in Iran, hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain … well, actually, we don’t, but California does. Forgive me; I just had a Merry Minuet flashback. Look, we already know about all these, all of us who have a social awareness above the level of a mollusk, the attention span slightly longer than a fruit fly, and a concern for our immediate communities. In the long run, is all that we can realistically concern ourselves with anyway. We already know; so quit shouting about social causes like carnival barkers trying to attract our attention to the Bearded Something or Other, or the Amazing Boneless Wonder. (Ooops … sorry establishment RINOS, but you know who I meant.)
Start a dialog? Why, bless your heart! Among those possessing social awareness above the level of the average mollusk, and an attention span slightly longer than a fruit fly, et cetera – we already know what that means. “Dialog” most often means “You shut up while we lecture you at length.” And most usually, that necessary dialog has already been happening for some time, between family, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, club members, bloggers and commenters, co-workers and interested passing strangers. That dialog just hasn’t been happening at the command of, or along the lines desired by those demanding that the dialog be started. Likely this is what annoys them so; that the dialog has already been underway for a good long time.
Any other trite and overused phrases in circulation which annoy the heck out of you? Please discuss.
(Cross-posted at www.ncobrief.com)
“It is in the caustic style usually associated with Tom Lehrer and is sometimes incorrectly attributed to him.”
I was a great fan of Tom Lehrer and was lucky enough to see him in person a couple of times. He would be in deep do do now with his caustic humor.
Amazingly enough, he is still alive. I can’t find “They’re rioting in Africa” but this one is good.
“Any other trite and overused phrases in circulation which annoy the heck out of you?”
Conscious, as in “conscious choice”, “conscious commerce”, “conscious eating”, “conscious travel”, etc. ad nauseum.
The word is a euphemism for “leftist hippie b*llsh*t” and is intended to imply that people with different opinions are “unconscious”, but what it really conveys is “the speaker is a smug, shallow. preening fool”…and may have used too many drugs back in the sixties.
Yeah, “conscious”, “mindful”, “ethical”, etc. Terms like these imply less-good motives for everyone else, and intentionally conflate intentions with performance. It’s all bullshit, which is a very good term.
“It’s all bullshit, which is a very good term.”
Good use of the term in two movies. “On Golden Pond” by Henry Fonda to a teenaged boy and “Hero” by Dustin Hoffman to his son.
One inescapable fact. This behavior will continue until there is a social, political, legal [for faked “hate crimes”], or kinetic penalty imposed routinely for such conduct. Until that day, the Left will continue to use it as an effective tool for enslaving the rest of us.
All Natural – Cyanide is all natural. Meaningless phrase if it’s intended to convey healthy. Also, artificial (manufactured) flavors generally have the same chemistry as the natural flavors. As I was taught. a real strawberry has more chemicals that you taste than its artificial flavor equivalent, which is just reproducing the primary flavor ingredient. Nothing dangerous or unhealthy about it though.
Safe Space – Please.
Multicultural – Strictly at the political level, it’s divide and conquer by pitting ethnic groups against each other. I preferred the melting pot. If you don’t want to become part of the American Culture and embrace the American Idea, why the hell are you here? Go home. On the social level, I have no problem with people being any particular ethnicity.
Social Justice – Don’t get me started. Everything these people ever wanted but can’t get through the ballot box or by working for it must now be given to them because Social Justice!
Tolerance – Do what we say and give us whatever we want or you’re intolerant! (Disclaimer: Does not apply to islamic radicals or anarchists or blacks or other groups we leftists fear.)
By the way, anyone notice the carefully chosen words? How can you be against tolerance or safe spaces? It’s like being against kittens and apple pie. I read recently how the Obama campaign employed a team of social psychologists to carefully craft messages for maximum appeal. Mass psychology in action. But as Orwell noted so well, the reality of the words employed by leftists is often the opposite of their ostensible meaning.
Oh yeah: “organic”. This word formerly had a precise meaning. Now it means nothing and everything, and the people who are most insistent about using it also have the most vague understanding about what it means.
Certainly displaying arrogance at this level is delusional. You think the things you hold dear are important but the things lefties hold dear are just trivial.
I laugh at both of you. ‘Cause you are funny.
And that faint whooshing sound just now was the sound of the point of this discussion going over Penny’s head at a great height … yet once again.
National Awareness Week
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